


Searched and rescued

by NYWCgirl



Series: The Sundance stables [3]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016), White Collar
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Kidnapping, Non-Consensual, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Rescue, Serious Injuries, Team as Family, ponyplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 22:24:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18417071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Another pony is found by PEETA and they suspect he is also an abducted agent. Peter is not home, but Neal can´t deny a fellow human being in distress, so he accepts the new rescue in their stables.





	Searched and rescued

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set in the ‘Sundance Stable’ verse and a crossover between White Collar and Macgyver (2016). It fills the ‘disappearing’ square on my H/C bingo card.

‘Hi John, what brings you here?’ Neal puts a cup of coffee in front of John.

‘I was called by PEETA. They have a rescue…’

Neal smiles, ‘say no more, you know we will take him or her.’

‘It’s a bit more complicated than that.’

Neal hears the seriousness in John´s voice, so he stops what he is doing and sits down, ‘tell me.’

‘I… We…’

Neal gives him an insecure laugh, ‘Come on John, it can´t be that bad. Is something wrong between you and…’

‘God, no, no… The rescue… We suspect that it involves another agent.’

Neal stills, his jaw set. It takes him a moment to find his voice again, ‘why do you think it is an agent?’

‘We can´t find anything on him, but his situation shows similarities with yours and Peter´s case.’

Neal forces himself to take a deep breath, he wishes Peter was here, but unfortunately he isn´t. Elizabeth needed help in her house and Neal had insisted Peter go there and help her. They are still good friends and that is what family does.

‘Bring him. We will take him,’ Neal states firmly.

‘Are you sure, I know Peter is in New York.’

‘I am sure, Peter will be back in a couple of days. Do we know he needs medical assistance?’

‘No, but if he does, Peggy offered to come over. No problem.’

‘Do you want me to come get him?’

‘No, PEETA is waiting for my call, they will bring him over.’

‘Do we know anything about him?’

‘We estimate him between twenty five and thirty. He appears not to be really injured, nothing major anyway. Not overly neglected, but we think he has a severe trauma. Neal, seriously, maybe I should just take him.’

‘Again, make the call, the stables are empty, so we can give him our full attention.’

‘OK, but I want you to promise me one thing. Let us know when it becomes too much.’

Neal nods, ‘I will. Promise.’

‘OK, then.’ John gulps down his coffee, ‘I have a call to make.’

John phones PEETA, telling them he found an adoption address. Neal leaves him to make the necessary arrangements. He walks into the stable next to the house, making sure it is in order to receive a new pony. When he is satisfied, everything is in order, he walks back.

‘He will be arriving later today. Do you want me here?’

Neal thinks about it but eventually shakes his head, ‘No, we will be OK.’

‘Call me if you need help.’

‘I will.’

Neal walks John back to his car, telling him to give his regards to Peggy. He waits until John drives off, before he goes back into the kitchen. He is in dubio whether or not to call Peter, but then decides to call. He decides to facetime but when the call connects he is greeted by Elizabeth.

‘ _Hi Neal, how are you doing_?’

‘Good, how are the renovations coming along?’

‘ _They are going great. Peter, Clinton and Mozzie did a great job_.’

Neal smiles imaging Mozzie working with Peter and Jones.

 _‘Did you want to talk to Peter?_ ’

‘If he has time, I don´t want to disturb.’

‘ _No, no problem, let me call him_.’

‘Thanks.’

Neal waits until he hears footsteps approach.

‘ _Everything alright_?’

It is clear by the look of Peter´s face he is worried.

‘Yeah, yeah, I´m fine. I just called to tell you John was here and he asked if we could take a rescue.’

‘ _Can´t it wait until I am back_?’

‘No, John said PEETA suspects he is an agent.’

Neal stops talking to let it sink in.

‘Do you understand why I couldn´t say no. I he really is or was an undercover agent or… We need to help him.’

‘ _Of course. Absolutely. I will try to finish this as quickly as possible_.’

‘No, take your time. Peggy and John offered their help.’

‘ _OK, but Neal, promise me to call and to be honest if it is getting too much, OK? Seriously, let me or John know_.’

‘Neal smiles, ‘ I really promise. I will.’

‘ _How are Mistopheles and Boris_?’

‘Good, Boris misses you, but we have a long walk every day.’

‘ _Give him a pet from me_.’

‘I will, now go finish your work and come back home.’

‘ _I will. Take care. Call me tonight_.’

‘Will do.’

* * *

 

A couple of hours later Neal gets up from the porch when he sees a jeep with a trailer driving through the gates. He takes deliberate deep breaths, calming himself. He remembers the moment the trailer stopped and he didn´t know what was happening. But he had Peter, this horse is all alone. Neal can´t imagine what he must be going through.

‘The man kills the engine and exits the car, Neal can now see it is Frank, he has worked with him before. He is very capable and a solid presence, that is good.

‘Hi Neal.’

‘Frank.’ Neal nods.

‘Ready?’

Neal nods, not really thrusting his voice. They walk to the back of the trailer. Frank opens the back and Neal waits for a moment to take in the horse´s posture. The horse is pressed against the corner of the trailer. He isn´t moving and he doesn´t make a sound.

‘Do we know anything more about him?’ Neal asks while entering the trailer.

‘He is seriously doped up, not sure on what, but he is really out of it.’

Neal nods.

‘Hey there, I am not going to hurt you, OK?’

Once he stands next to the horse and is able to unclasp the lead reign, he takes a hold of the bridle and moves the head of the horse up so he can see. The guy is a smaller than him, not much, but Neal can see there is only blue in the eyes, almost no pupil. Clearly doped up. He gives a gentle tug on the reigns and the horse stumbles with him without much protest. Neal is careful, because it is clear he is not stable on his legs and he doesn´t want him to fall.

Once they are in the warm stables, Neal tries to get him to lay down, which proves more difficult than expected. The horse is not aggressive, but more scared. Neal decides to stop trying, but hobbles him, so once the drugs wear off, they can keep him safe. He explains it to the nameless horse, but also realizes he probably doesn´t hear a word what he is saying.

‘You can go Frank, I will take care of him.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah, but if you could get me a name, that would be helpful.’

‘I will try. He wasn´t tattooed, so I will see what I can do.’

‘That´s all I ask.’

Frank leaves and Neal studies the horse, his heart clenches seeing this young guy. He has gorgeous blonde manes and a pale skin. He must have been kept indoors, because he almost has no freckles.

‘Hey boy, you are safe here. My name is Neal.’

The stallion looks his way, but it is clear he is still heavily under influence of whatever he was given. Neal leaves the stable and starts the heater for the water bed in the stable. The heaters already provide a warm stable, but he knows that the waterbed is nice after probably having spent weeks or months on hard stable floors. He prepares a bucket with scented soapy water and takes a sponge with him. Neal slowly puts his hand on the horses forehead and when he stays still, Neal unclasps the bridle and removes it.

The horse shakes his head, clearly surprised by the loss of the weight and tension on his head. Neal smiles, ‘feels good, doesn´t it?’

He then wets the sponge and starts cleaning it’s face. Neal is happy to see he is slowly relaxing and closes his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips. Once he is done cleaning the pony´s head, his manes are not washed only brushed, he takes a soft hackamore and ties it around his head. He will need a way to restrain the horse if that would be necessary once the drugs wear off.

‘It is called a hackamore. I would really like to get you out of tack, but since I don´t know anything about you, for now, your and our safety is our first priority. So I will keep you hobbled, I really am not going to hurt you, but since you are drugged, safety first, OK?’

Before he continues, he takes a tube with condensed milk and pushes some in the stallion’s mouth, at first he pulls away, but Neal keeps a hold of the reign.

‘I am not trying to poison you, but I think you can use some calories and I don´t know what diet you were given, so I don´t want to give you anything heavy. And since you are being so good, you deserve a treat.’

Neal tries to feed him some more, but he doesn´t open his mouth again and Neal doesn´t want to stress him, so he stops. He bind the reign on one of the o-rings on the wall and continues with the arm binders. Having his arms freed pulls put a grunt of pain, indicating that he has been bound most of the time. Neal takes care to examine his hands and it is clear the horse has had a broken wrist, which wasn´t set. He will have to call Peggy for medical advice on that wrist. His fingers also look not completely correct. So he is quick with his washing before carefully binding them again, his gut tells him it will hurt less bound that freed.

The longer he works, the more relaxed the horse gets, so much so that he is wavering on his hooves. Neal carefully pulls him down so he is laying on the heated waterbed. Once tucked in under a soft blanket, the hooved boots come off. His feet need some care but they are not badly neglected, so Neal does as much as he can, before putting the hobble back on.

He takes the boots with him to give them a polish. Before taking care of dinner, he goes back to the stable with a bottle of water, but the pony is still sleeping. He would have liked to get him rehydrated but it can wait. There is a watering system in the stable, so if he wakes up thirsty, he can drink.

Putting on dinner, he starts cleaning the boots. By the time dinner is ready, so are the boots. He checks them over once again before putting them down and quickly eats his dinner, so he can check up on their guest.

His phone rings and Neal accepts it, thinking it is Peter calling him to remind him he should have called.

‘Hey Neal.’

‘Oh hi John, do you have a name for me.’

‘Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.’

‘That doesn´t sound good.’

‘His name is Angus Macgyver and he is an employee of a government Think tank based in California.’

‘Think tank, seriously?’ So he is probably some alphabet agent.’

‘Probably, like I said before, the similarities between yours and his case are too big to be a coincidence.’

‘I agree. Well, let´s wait until he´s off whatever they gave him.’

‘Do you want Peggy to come over?’

‘Maybe, yeah, I haven´t been able to get him to drink. He is in good health, there is evidence of some neglect or abuse, but he doesn´t have really pressing injuries.’

‘OK, I will ask her to come over to start him on an IV, so we can load him up on nutrients during the night.’

After he disconnects the call, Neal walks back to the stable. Angus hasn´t moved, he probably doesn´t do well on drugs. Neal can relate. There is nothing he can do until Peggy gets here, so he calls Boris after he puts his food bowl out. He is having his coffee in the stable when he hears Peggy´s car drive up.

‘Hi Peggy.’

She gives him a hug, ‘how are you holding up?’

‘I´m fine, Coffee?’

‘That would be great. So how is Angus doing?’

He fell asleep after I cleaned him and he has been ever since. I wasn´t able to get him to drink.

‘Let me check his vitals.’

Neal leaves her with the horse, to get her coffee. When he returns to find Peggy calmly trying to re-assure Angus, who is obviously awake.

‘What happened?’

‘I startled Angus.’

‘Shh. Hey there, Angus, you are safe. My name is Neal and you are in my stable. You are safe here.’

Angus stares with wide eyes, it is clear he is still not completely tracking. His breathing has picked up and he has pressed himself in the furthest corner of the stable. Neal can only imagine he couldn´t get up quick enough with the hobble.

‘It’s OK, you are safe here. I put the hobble so you wouldn´t hurt yourself or us. When they brought you in, you were pretty doped up.’

‘Do you know where you are?’

Angus stares with wide eyes. He stays huddled in the corner.

‘Angus, you were abducted, but we’ve got you out. You are safe here.’

Angus makes no indication that he understands them.

‘We can´t take the restraints off as long as you are a possible danger to yourself and us, do you understand?’

When he doesn´t get a response, Neal enters the stable, but it is clear it only distresses Angus even more, so he doesn´t press on. He keeps his hands where Angus can see them, but it doesn´t seem to put him at ease.

‘Angus, we know you hurt, and we want to make you better.’

When there is no reaction, Peggy asks Neal to give the pony some space. Neal takes Peggy’s hint and walks out with her.

‘I want to give him a twilight sedation but I don´t want you anywhere near. I don´t want him to distrust you. You can come once he is sedated.

Neal nods. He can still feel the terror that went through him when they sedated Peter and later him after their rescue. Thinking that he went from one hell to another, not knowing what the new owner wants or will do to you. But he also remembers the calming presence that was there even though he didn’t know who it was.

Neal walks back to the house, checking the camera feed in the stable on his computer.

Peggy prepares the shot outside of his vision. Angus doesn´t seem aggressive, he just tries to press himself deeper into the corner.

‘It’s alright, we will keep you safe, but we will need to check you for injuries and I want you get some nutrients in you.’

She extends her hand towards his reign. The stallion is distracted by the movement and Peggy is a professional, so before he can react, she empties the syringe in his thigh.

‘I´m sorry, but we really need to thread you and make you better.’

The betrayal in Angus´s eyes is clear and Peggy knows she made the right decision to keep Neal away. She guides his limp body. She didn´t knock him out completely so he keeps glaring with sleepy eyes.

She gives him a quick once over, checking his vitals. There is nothing to worry about so next comes the IV with much needed nutrients. She makes sure to tape and bandage it well, so he won´t be able to dislodge it when he starts waking up. Neal has returned to the stable, steadily talking to Angus, pulling the blanket closer when he shivers.

Next she examines Angus hands and wrist. The wrist has definitely been broken, but has already completely healed, although not completely correct. They will try physical therapy but she tells Neal she expects that he will need surgery to get full motion back. The fingers on both fingers have been broken or dislocated and have also been left to heal on their own. It appears that he managed to correct some of them.

‘I guess he is ‘handy’, that they felt the need to disable him in this way.’ Neal remarks quietly.

‘I guess, so we also have to be careful that he doesn´t make a run for it before we can contact his people and take care of him.’

There is nothing they can do at this moment so Peggy decides to call it a night when the IV has run. Since it will probably hurt to leave his arms in an elastic fabric instead of the restricting leather. Peggy asks if Neal is sure to stay alone on the farm, but he explains they have top notch security so he will be alright.

After Peggy drives off, Neal goes inside the house to get his cell and to get into something more comfortable. He also grabs some water and energy bars and heads back to the stables. He closes the door and enters Angus’s stable.

‘Hey Angus, don´t worry, I´m not leaving you alone. I am staying, OK?

His eyes open lethargically so Neal smiles and brushes his bangs from his forehead.

‘You’re going to be OK. We will take care of you. Now rest, everything will be OK.’

He uses his fingers to comb through the long blonde manes and Angus’s eyes slowly droop. Neal checks the warmth of the water bed and when he is satisfied their guest is comfortable, he settles for the long haul.

 

* * *

 

Neal starts awake when he hears a car drive up the driveway. He is immediately on high alert, because he is certain he closed the gates and activated the security system. He takes a quick glance at Angus who is still fast asleep. However the moment Neal moves to get up, his eyes snap open.

‘It’s alright, everything is alright.’

But it is clear he isn´t buying it, picking up on Neal´s anxiety.

‘I´m just going to check who’s there.’

Neal gets up but now that the car is closer, he recognizes the engine sound.

‘It’s OK, It’s Peter,’ he says, more to reassure himself than Angus.

Neal opens the stable door and Peter looks a moment surprised. Having been tuned into Neal´s anxiety and stress, he picks up on it immediately and steps closer to grabs Neal in a bear hug.

‘I´m sorry, Neal for not telling you I was on my way. Elizabeth told me to go back and she was right. What has you so jumpy?’

‘It’s just, … I …’

‘Oh Neal, come here.’

He takes Neal in another hug and Neal takes a couple of deep breaths.

‘So, that is our new guest?’ Peter looks over Neal´s shoulder to the young man that is studying them anxiously.

‘Sorry, yeah, this is Angus. Angus, this is Peter.’

‘Angus, your name is Angus?’

Angus doesn´t respond, so Neal introduces them.

‘Yeah, Angus Macgyver, he is an employee of a government think tank, based in California. Angus, Peter is my friend, we used to work for the FBI and he will also take care of you and protect you.’

It is clear Angus is still tense.

‘Hi Angus, I am glad they brought you hear so we can take care of you.’

Everything about Peter oozes sincerity and Angus seems curious.

‘You must be thirsty, do you want water?’

Angus doesn´t respond.

‘Did Neal explain how the watering system works if you do get thirsty?’

Once again no reaction. Neal is not sure Angus is still under the influence of whatever drugs were given to him or that trauma makes Angus so closed off.

‘We should stay with him, he is clearly traumatized and he doesn´t have anybody. We had each other when they found us.’

That must have triggered something in Angus, because he studies them. Peter turns towards Angus, ‘I agree with Neal.’

‘Have you eaten yet?’

‘Not really, I tried to get here as soon as possible.’

‘I made some fresh tomato soup.’

‘And grilled cheese sandwiches?’

Neal smiles, ‘of course.’

He leaves the stable and Peter sits down and smiles at Mac.

‘I see you studying him, you noticed his limp or the faint scares on his mouth? We used to be partners. I worked for the FBI in White Collar and Neal was my CI. We were a good team, I guess too good, because we were kidnapped and forced into this life style. Neal took the brunt of the abuse. They crippled him and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I couldn´t protect him.’

Peter gives Angus a sad smile.

‘But I promise you, we will keep you safe.’

Neal re-enters the barn; balancing a tray with three bowls of soup and a stack of sandwiches. He hands Peter his food and cuts one the grilled cheese sandwiches in pieces and holds a piece up to Angus.

‘Come on Angus, you know you want it.’

Angus pretends not to be interested so Neal pops the piece in his mouth while eating his soup. He can see that he is being watched, Angus probably didn´t trust the sandwich.

‘It´s delicious Neal. Nobody makes tomato soup like you.’

‘Thanks Peter.’

They can hear Angus´s stomach growl and laugh, ‘ come on Angus, have a bite.’

Peter takes a piece and dunks it in the soup before holding it out to Angus. The hunger must be too much, because he takes it and almost moans when the taste hits him.

‘It’s good, isn´t it?’ Peter smiles, feeding another piece to Mac. Before they realize he has eaten the whole sandwich while Peter shared stories about Mozzie doing odd jobs.

It is clear their guest is exhausted when his eyes start to droop. Neal slowly guides him on the waterbed and covers him with a blanket. Neal and Peter take turns to get in the house to brush their teeth and to get into something more comfortable. They are not going to leave Angus alone in the stable.

 

* * *

 

Peter´s eyes snap open. He stays still, trying to figure out what woke him. There it is, there is someone out there. Peter stealthy gets up, taking his gun. Neal picked up on the movement and looks at Peter with wide eyes. Peter gestures to stay put and to be quiet. But before they can do anything, whoever it is, enters the stable. Peter aims his gun and pushes on the remote to activate the lights in the barn, but not the stables.

‘I wouldn´t do that if I were you, ‘ he threatens the man.

The man, in black tac gear, raises his hands but Peter recognizes a professional.

‘Drop the gun, NOW!’ I won´t say it again.’

The man drops it, ‘look, I…’

‘’Stop, take out your back up and all other weapons out of your tac gear.’

‘Look, My name is Jack Dalton and I am just here for the kid. Hand him over and I won´t harm you.’

Angus has woken by all the commotion and makes a surprised sound.

‘Mac! It´s me.’

Angus tries to get up, so it is clear they know each other.

‘You came to rescue Angus?’ Neal asks, helping Angus to his feet.

The man nods and Peter lowers his gun, not putting it away, but showing he is not ready to shoot this Jack figure.

‘Well, then we have something in common. We took Angus in to take care of him. I am Neal Caffrey and this is Peter Burke.’

Angus has pressed himself against Jack, who took him in a bear hug. Tears are forming in Jack´s eyes.

‘I’ve got you Mac. I’ve got you. Why is he still restrained if you say you want to help him?’

‘He has been restrained for so long, he will need physical therapy to loosen the muscles and joints. We took of the leather restraints and this is just fabric, he can get out of it if he wants, but this makes him more comfortable when he rests.’

‘And why were you guarding him?’

‘We didn´t want him to be alone on his first night here in our stables.’

‘I have a question for you, Who are you, who are you working for and how did you bypass our security system?’ Peter interrupts, ‘how did you even know he was here?’

‘My name is Jack Dalton, I work for the Phoenix foundation.’

‘The think tank?’

Jack smiles, yeah, the think tank, my team bypassed the security system, there isn´t much that they can´t hack, so, don´t feel bad. We lost Mac here and couldn´t find a trace until a PEETA employee started researching Mac. From there it was easy, since you were put in the system.’

‘So you know that Sundance Stables is a rescue sanctuary.’

‘Yeah, but I couldn´t take a risk.’

Mac finally takes a bit of distance from Jack.’

‘Hey there kiddo, how are you doing?’

When Mac doesn´t say anything, Neal explains that they think Mac´s vocal cords have been paralyzed and that he scheduled a doctor´s appointment to check it out.’

‘So you guys are the real deal?’

Both men nod.

‘Why do you call him Mac, we were told his name is Angus.’

‘Yeah, well, he prefers Mac.

‘Oh, I am sorry, Mac.’ Neal smiles.

‘Well seeing as it is in the middle of the night. Why don´t we see if we can get some sleep. I know you probably want to take Mac home, but we know from first-hand experience that’s not a good idea. Trust us, we know what we are talking about. Give us a change to explain tomorrow morning. Do you want to stay with Mac or do you want a bed in the house? We have a spare guestroom?’

‘I was born and raised in Texas, I have spent many hours in barns and stables, we will be fine, won´t we Mac?’

Mac only smiles.

 

* * *

 

‘Good morning,’ Neal says quietly, while entering the stable with breakfast. It doesn´t look like Jack has slept much last night, but Mac is still fast asleep curled up against Jack.

‘This is some professional stable, heated water beds?’ Jack says with appreciation in his voice.

‘Yeah, we want the best for our guests, so we invested in good infrastructure. I remember when I was still healing and recuperating that it was sometimes difficult to keep warm. Even though I had Peter with me. Not all ponies are that fortunate.’

Jack nods, ‘You were held like this? If you don´t want to talk about it, that´s fine, I couldn´t help notice the limp and the scars.’

Neal nods, swallowing, he has worked hard to get his leg stronger, but he knows that he still has a slight limp, especially when he is tired. And they offered plastic surgery to get rid of the scars around his mouth, but he declined. They are a part of him and they don´t really bother him, so he decides not to have them corrected.

‘Yeah, that is why PEETA asked to take care of him, they suspected he is an agent.’

Now it is Jack who nods, ‘we were undercover and he just vanished, we couldn´t find any trace, we searched and searched, but it seemed like he disappeared from the face of the earth. I should have kept him safe and I didn´t.’

‘I think you should talk to Peter, you have more in common than you think.’

‘I will, thanks.’

‘We will talk more later, have some breakfast, I made a sandwich for Mac, I also cut up some fruit and granola bars, not sure what he likes, if you need something else, just let me know.’

‘Please stay.’

‘You sure?’

Jack nods.

‘OK.’

Neal pours coffee in mugs and sits down while Mac wakes, panic is evident in his tense reaction until Jack talks to him and he blinks up. The moment he recognizes Jack, he relaxes. Neal is happy to see that Jack can calm Mac. He even gets him to eat.

It is clear that Jack is to Mac what Peter is to him. And though they have a long way to go, they will be alright, together with Jack, they will take care of Mac.

 


End file.
